Nottingham FC Owner Marinakis on Sky Sports: PL Ambitions, Promises and Olympiacos FC

Ιn an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Nottingham Forest, shared his candid thoughts on the challenges and opportunities shaping modern football.

From his ongoing frustrations with VAR decisions to his bold ambitions for Nottingham Forest, Marinakis outlines a clear vision for the club’s future.

He also delves into the advantages of operating within a multi-club model, a growing trend among football’s elite. With a reputation for being both passionate and strategic, Marinakis’ insights provide a fascinating glimpse into his approach to building success both on and off the pitch.

Rob Dorsett: Thank you for talking to us. A lot of people, I think, have ideas of who you might be and what sort of person you are. How would you describe yourself?

Evangelos Marinakis: “I have passion for what I do, and you need to have the winning spirit all the time. And you need to have this from the guy who cleans the facilities, up to the owner, up to the coach, up to the captain of the team. All of them, they should be able to work together, to be together. That’s why, whenever I talk, I don’t speak about myself, I use words that have to do with all of us. We do it.”

Commentator: Marinakis’ love for Forest developed when he was a teenager, and his parents sent him to boarding school in England.

“That was at the beginning of the 80s, and, you know, there were two teams at the time. It was Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Plus, it’s the colours that is the same with Olympiacos, red. Of course, Nottingham Forest is one of the very big teams in England, both in what we have achieved and also with the supporter base.”

He says his mission is to return Forest to the status the club had when he first fell in love with it. Trying to snare Arsenal’s renowned sporting director is a part of that ambition. Edu has already left the Emirates, and negotiations are ongoing around a possible deal, which would see him working closely with Marinakis in the future, across all of his football operations.

It’s a heck of a statement about your ambition going forward.

“Edu was a very good player, a very good sporting and technical director before. I have a lot of respect for him. He has done an excellent job at Arsenal. I would like to cooperate with him on a much bigger project, a global project, and I’m optimistic that in case all this goes ahead, it will be another successful venture for both of us.”

It speaks volumes, doesn’t it, about where you’re going in football with the clubs that you own, that you can even get conversations with these people, that they’re even interested in coming to work for you. It’s a sign of your ambition, isn’t it?

“Yes. And I think that there are a lot of people that want to cooperate with us and work with us. And of course, that means that they respect us. What we do is something that is appealing to very good people in the industry.”

Olympiacos was the first club that Marinakis bought back in 2010. He’s gone on to buy Nottingham Forest and Rio Ave in Portugal. But he’s now told us he has further plans to expand his football operation much further afield.

“Brazil, most.”

Brazil, most? Possibly Vasco da Gama?

“There are discussions and whatever I want to get involved needs to be something major, something big. For us, the Brazilian market is very important. We have some very good players that have played over the years in Olympiacos and also now in Nottingham Forest. It’s a gate, let’s say, for Brazilian players into Europe. And for me, this is very important for the years to come.”

So this is your father, and he was so important to you, wasn’t he? And he used to be part-owner of Olympiacos as well.

“Yes. He was also my best friend for many years. And he had passion for Olympiacos and for Piraeus and for Crete, our homeland.”

And he started your interest in football, and started your passion for Olympiacos, yes?

“Yes. It was very important to, without pressing your kid to come with you into the stadium, in the office, to love the team, the business, you know, it’s very important.”

Just over six months ago, Olympiacos became the first club from Greece to ever win a major European trophy. Marinakis aims to repeat that feat with Forest. He says there were around two million people who came out onto the streets right across the country. Tens of thousands of them were in Piraeus, where the celebrations with the team went long into the night. One month before, Olympiacos’ junior team had won the UEFA Youth League.

That almost brought you as much pleasure, didn’t it? The youth team doing so well.

“And it was the first time in history in UEFA that a team wins both competitions.”

I go back to your father and how much Olympiacos meant to him. And I know that you took the Europa Conference League trophy over to share that moment with him, to take the trophy to his grave.

“You know, it was a special moment, because the person who inspired you to do this, so it was very important.”

I can see the emotion in your face, you’re emotional now, it brings it home to you, doesn’t it?

“Yeah, it is. But it’s good not to forget your roots, for all of us. And you know, it was something that I had promised to myself, and it happened.”

To mark this unique achievement, Marinakis arranged for both trophies to go on a national tour of both the mainland and the Greek islands. He says he was determined to share this success and take it directly to the people of Greece. Despite all the recent glory, nine months ago, Marinakis was in a dark place with his football teams. Forest were in a relegation battle, and Olympiacos lost 4-1 at home in the first leg of a Europa Conference League tie. There was pressure on both team managers. In the East Midlands, and in southern Greece. But Marinakis stood firm.

“This February, both teams were not doing well, both Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest. So I instructed my guys to produce, let’s say, 100 pieces of “never give up”, so we gave to all the players of Nottingham, the technical team, to have it in their houses or in their offices. And in the morning, to have a look at it and to act accordingly, the same in Olympiacos. And both teams, I think, recovered.”

Show that to me. That’s just on the desk in your office? Do you look at it often?

“Yes. I look at it every day when I arrive. So it’s something that, as I said, we’ll look forward to the next one. This is good enough, but the Europa League final this year is in Bilbao. Why not? Participate again in the final. So we’ll see.”

He has an insatiable desire to grow his business empire, too. He already owns one of Greece’s biggest media organizations. And via his capital maritime shipping company, he’s a major employer in Athens and beyond. He has a fleet of more than 100 shipping tanks. And a crew of over 20,000 seagoing staff who are working aboard his boats at any one time.

You’ve got one over here in the middle of the Pacific. You’ve got some over there in the Pacific.

“Also, there are others on the way that have started already because maybe, you know, they’re moving. But it’s nice to see also the satellite that you can see all of them. It’s a full-time job to do this every day. But as I said, now we have it on the big screens and it’s very interesting and very useful.”

On the ground floor of Marinakis’ Piraeus offices he has an art gallery, which is stacked full of valuable modern art and a number of pieces that he has created himself. He tells me he sleeps very little, so art is his mental escape from the pressures of his life. He knows his football clubs are only likely to add to his stress levels and damage his bank balance. He treats them as an expensive indulgence, especially Nottingham Forest, with whom he has big ambitions in the pricey Premier League market.

That strikes me. That challenge. It’s you all around. You love the challenge in business, you love the challenge in football, you don’t buy necessarily football clubs that are at the top.

“So, you know, this is something that gives me satisfaction and of course what I enjoy most is the journey. Because when you have the success, when you have the victory, you need to have an endless effort. Try your best, you know, you can become passionate about it. You can have arguments in order to protect your team, your interests.”

Do you believe that Nottingham Forest, and do you aim to make Nottingham Forest a club that can compete in the top six going forward?

“For me, that was the target from the beginning and, you know, when I first said it, a lot of people thought that, OK.”

They thought you were crazy.

“Yes. If Forest wasn’t a big team, I wouldn’t get involved. And of course it’s very difficult to combine business with football, especially with big teams that you need to win trophies, you need to participate in Europe. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you can make money. The opposite is in a lot of cases.”

We’ve got a January transfer window coming up very soon. Because Nottingham Forest are so high on the table, do you feel that you want to invest heavily in January to try and make that big push for Europe?

“We have, of course, the financial fair play that restricts us from unlimited spending. And at the end of the day, what you need to spend is the money you receive. We’ll try our very best to make smart moves in order to strengthen our team. I’m always happy to give everything I can. Wherever is needed. For the time being, we see that in all the positions, we’re happy.”

It is clear that Marinakis is well prepared to take head on some of his richest rivals in the Premier League.

“We are not a state company or a company that can afford each year to lose money. We need to find the balances between what we spend and what we can achieve. But we try our very best to be able to be competitive at a cost that is affordable nowadays.

Marinakis surrounds himself with the very best, like ChristianKarembeu, who’s won the World Cup, the Euros, and two Champions Leagues. Having played for Olympiacos in the early 2000s, he’s now a special advisor to his friend on matters of recruitment.

Christian Karembeu: “I am close to him. I do understand what he wants, and, of course, his will for the club.”

Is he a bit, kind of, you don’t know where you’re going to go next with him because he has all these huge plans and ambitions?

Karembeu: “And this is him. He’s like that. He’s a winner. When he touches something, it becomes gold. And this is good. And this is, I don’t know, his will because he gives this energy to everyone who is working with him. Sometimes he’s like a perfectionist. He wants this, he wants this, he wants this. Details. But this makes a difference. And to grow and to develop and to be better and to improve. Because, like I said, he’s very proactive. I told you that when I asked him to do this, he said, OK, do it. He’s missing this. Do it. So if this happens, do it.”

His generosity is lauded in these parts. He’s given millions to a children’s cancer charity, produced 60,000 free hot meals and other supplies for refugees who arrived in Piraeus from the Middle East. And during the devastating wildfires that killed more than 100 people in two Greek coastal towns, it was Marinakis who mobilized help for survivors.

Do we see the real Mr. Marinakis in the media?

Karembeu: “I don’t think so. Because, first of all, he’s a family man, very generous, because we don’t talk about what he has done to Greece, to many families, to the church, to the neighborhoods. Because, yes, when he travels anywhere, everywhere, if people need, he will help them.”

Marinakis: “What I wanted to see is that this city can become more prosperous and also to build the facilities for the children of Piraeus, you know, for the Piraeus people to upgrade their standard of living.”

In Nottingham, Marinakis has personally overseen links with Warriors United, a local football team for players with learning disabilities. They’ll be back at the city ground for Forest’s “Home for Christmas” party, which will also welcome some of the most deserving children from across the city.

Marinakis’ passion for football and ruthless determination to make his clubs successful have led to numerous clashes with the English football authorities. He was given a five-game ban by the FA for spitting at the feet of the referee in the tunnel after the defeat at Fulham in September. Marinakis categorically denies that’s what he was doing, saying instead he had a hacking cough at the time, exacerbated by his cigar smoking.

Forest have had previous issues with refereeing. After the 2-0 defeat by Everton in April, the club said in a statement they’d warned the PGMOL that, quote, ‘the VAR is a Luton fan’, but they didn’t change him. Forest were fined £750,000 by the FA, but Marinakis is unapologetic.

Marinakis: “It’s very important for the leader to try his very best to protect the interests of the team, of the company, of your family. Because I consider Nottingham Forest as a family. When you see things that are not right, you can be loud about it. Believe me, so far, whenever we have been loud, we were absolutely right.

“We have seen things that are unbelievable. You need to have the courage and the power to stand by what you say. And to be able to prove that what you say is correct.

You mean refereeing decisions specifically?

“Yes. I have no regrets. It will continue to be the case. And sometimes it takes longer time to prove that you are right. And until this is proven, you might face consequences that can harm your interests or your image or your business, your club. But we are strong enough. And we can afford to wait. And we can afford to take the blame.”

VAR is one of his biggest bugbears.

“Big mistakes. A lot of times you can make a mistake. But when you have all the time you need to watch from all angles in a comfortable chair and you can spend one minute, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, even five minutes to watch it and watch it again, it’s very difficult to accept a human mistake.”

In the spring, the referee mistakenly gave a drop ball to Liverpool after he stopped the game because of a head injury. Forest were attacking and in possession at the time but Paul Tierney gave the ball back to Liverpool who went on to score an injury time winner.

At the end of the game, the Forest owner went pitch-side to voice his anger.

“This is the FAs, it’s the Premier League, it’s UEFA, it’s FIFA. They have a duty to all of us to rectify all this. Someone should be strong enough to be loud about it in order to prevent similar occasions and also to prevent other teams, not only your team, not to face similar situations.

As well as accumulating big football clubs, Marinakis is committed to a multi-sport empire. In Greece, he supports 17 other sports. And in England, as well as setting up the Nottingham Forest netball team, he’s made the women’s football team full-time professionals, even though they’re currently operating in the third tier. But Olympiacos is where it all started for Marinakis and he’s desperate to replicate the European trophy success he’s masterminded here, back in the UK, with Nottingham Forest.

“The thing is that when you’re in England, when you are in this stadium, there is something magic. You feel the power, you are inspired, and it’s your castle. And you are obliged to win in here. And we had some great victories against great teams, and that’s because of the atmosphere from our supporters.”

And you get that at the City Ground too, don’t you?

“Yeah.”

Well, you only buy these clubs when you feel that connection, that special atmosphere, that matters to you.

“And this special atmosphere makes great teams. We are very glad being in the stadium, being in City Ground, because it inspires us to make the miracle.”